BMAD-METHOD™: Universal AI Agent Framework (v4 - Stable)

🚨 v4 STABLE - NO NEW FEATURES 🚨

This is the stable, production-ready v4 version of BMad Method. It will receive critical patches only - no new features will be added.

Install v4 Stable: npx bmad-method install

---

🆕 Want to Try v6 Alpha?

BMad v6 is under active development with major improvements:

• Scale-adaptive workflows (Levels 0-4)
• Project-adaptive architecture
• Enhanced module system (BMM, BMB, CIS)
• Update-safe customization

View v6 Documentation | Install: npx bmad-method@alpha install

Note: v6 is in alpha - stable enough for testing but not production-ready yet.

---

Foundations in Agentic Agile Driven Development, known as the Breakthrough Method of Agile AI-Driven Development, yet so much more. Transform any domain with specialized AI expertise: software development, entertainment, creative writing, business strategy to personal wellness just to name a few.

Subscribe to BMadCode on YouTube

Join our Discord Community - A growing community for AI enthusiasts! Get help, share ideas, explore AI agents & frameworks, collaborate on tech projects, enjoy hobbies, and help each other succeed. Whether you're stuck on BMad, building your own agents, or just want to chat about the latest in AI - we're here for you! Some mobile and VPN may have issue joining the discord, this is a discord issue - if the invite does not work, try from your own internet or another network, or non-VPN.

⭐ If you find this project helpful or useful, please give it a star in the upper right hand corner! It helps others discover BMAD-METHOD™ and you will be notified of updates!

Overview

BMAD-METHOD™'s Two Key Innovations:

1. Agentic Planning: Dedicated agents (Analyst, PM, Architect) collaborate with you to create detailed, consistent PRDs and Architecture documents. Through advanced prompt engineering and human-in-the-loop refinement, these planning agents produce comprehensive specifications that go far beyond generic AI task generation.

2. Context-Engineered Development: The Scrum Master agent then transforms these detailed plans into hyper-detailed development stories that contain everything the Dev agent needs - full context, implementation details, and architectural guidance embedded directly in story files.

This two-phase approach eliminates both planning inconsistency and context loss - the biggest problems in AI-assisted development. Your Dev agent opens a story file with complete understanding of what to build, how to build it, and why.

📖 See the complete workflow in the User Guide - Planning phase, development cycle, and all agent roles

Quick Navigation

Understanding the BMad Workflow

Before diving in, review these critical workflow diagrams that explain how BMad works:

1. Planning Workflow (Web UI) - How to create PRD and Architecture documents
2. Core Development Cycle (IDE) - How SM, Dev, and QA agents collaborate through story files

⚠️ These diagrams explain 90% of BMad Method Agentic Agile flow confusion - Understanding the PRD+Architecture creation and the SM/Dev/QA workflow and how agents pass notes through story files is essential - and also explains why this is NOT taskmaster or just a simple task runner!

What would you like to do?

• Install and Build software with Full Stack Agile AI Team → Quick Start Instruction
• Learn how to use BMad → Complete user guide and walkthrough
• See available AI agents → Specialized roles for your team
• Explore non-technical uses → Creative writing, business, wellness, education
• Create my own AI agents → Build agents for your domain
• Browse ready-made expansion packs → Game dev, DevOps, infrastructure and get inspired with ideas and examples
• Understand the architecture → Technical deep dive
• Join the community → Get help and share ideas

Important: Keep Your v4 Installation Updated

Stay up-to-date with v4 patches! If you already have BMAD-METHOD™ v4 installed in your project, run:

npx bmad-method install

This will:

• ✅ Automatically detect your existing v4 installation
• ✅ Update only the files that have changed (critical patches only)
• ✅ Create .bak backup files for any custom modifications you've made
• ✅ Preserve your project-specific configurations

Remember: v4 receives critical patches only. For new features, try v6 alpha.

Quick Start (v4 Stable)

One Command Installation

Install v4 stable version:

npx bmad-method install

This command handles:

• New installations - Sets up BMad v4 in your project
• Upgrades - Updates existing v4 installations with patches
• Expansion packs - Installs any expansion packs you've added to package.json

That's it! Whether you're installing for the first time, upgrading, or adding expansion packs - these commands do everything.

Prerequisites: Node.js v20+ required

Fastest Start: Web UI Full Stack Team at your disposal (2 minutes)

1. Get the bundle: Save or clone the full stack team file or choose another team
2. Create AI agent: Create a new Gemini Gem or CustomGPT
3. Upload & configure: Upload the file and set instructions: "Your critical operating instructions are attached, do not break character as directed"
4. Start Ideating and Planning: Start chatting! Type *help to see available commands or pick an agent like *analyst to start right in on creating a brief.
5. CRITICAL: Talk to BMad Orchestrator in the web at ANY TIME (#bmad-orchestrator command) and ask it questions about how this all works!
6. When to move to the IDE: Once you have your PRD, Architecture, optional UX and Briefs - its time to switch over to the IDE to shard your docs, and start implementing the actual code! See the User guide for more details

Alternative: Clone v4 Branch

git clone -b V4 https://github.com/bmad-code-org/BMAD-METHOD.git
cd BMAD-METHOD
npm run install:bmad # build and install all to a destination folder

🌟 Beyond Software Development - Expansion Packs

BMAD™'s natural language framework works in ANY domain. Expansion packs provide specialized AI agents for creative writing, business strategy, health & wellness, education, and more. Also expansion packs can expand the core BMAD-METHOD™ with specific functionality that is not generic for all cases. See the Expansion Packs Guide and learn to create your own!

Documentation & Resources

Essential Guides

• 📖 User Guide - Complete walkthrough from project inception to completion
• 🏗️ Core Architecture - Technical deep dive and system design
• 🚀 Expansion Packs Guide - Extend BMad to any domain beyond software development

Support

• 💬 Discord Community
• 🐛 Issue Tracker
• 💬 Discussions

Contributing

v4 is frozen - only critical patches accepted. For new features and contributions, please work on v6 (main branch).

License

MIT License - see LICENSE for details.

Trademark Notice

BMAD™ and BMAD-METHOD™ are trademarks of BMad Code, LLC. All rights reserved.

_{Built with ❤️ for the AI-assisted development community}